CULTURE OF THE MELON IN BRITISH GARDENS. 493 



first inserted in the bed they are closely covered with hand-glasses, but as 

 soon as they have begun to grow the glasses are raised on bricks, so as to 

 allow the shoots to advance from beneath them ; and these shoots are care- 

 fully pegged down to preserve them from being deranged by the wind. 

 The first fruit from such beds is generally cut in August, and they will 

 continue productive till the plants are destroyed by frost in October. A 

 thin covering of canvas during nights would no doubt contribute to the 

 vigour of the plants by checking radiation. ( Williams in Hort. Trans., 

 vol. v., p. 364, and Mills s Treatise, p. 67.) 



1046. Insects and Diseases. The aphis, the red spider, and the thrip, 

 are the greatest enemies to the melon, and if once the plants are overrun 

 with any of them, it is scarcely possible to restore them to health. The 

 aphis may be destroyed by fumigating with tobacco, or the paper in which 

 it is packed, and the rope with which it is bound, on its importation to this 

 country. Any of these will do, and each must be a little moistened when 

 it is used. The best method of doing it is with the fumigating bellows, 

 the muzzle being introduced through a perforation in the front of the frame 

 or pit, nearly on a level with the surface of the mould ; the sashes should 

 be covered with mats at the same time, to prevent the escape of the fumes. 

 The operation should always be performed in the evening, and renewed the 

 following one ; not a drop of water, from any source, should be allowed to 

 touch the plants the next day. The frames are to be kept closed and 

 shaded, so far as can be done without injury, and not opened until the latest 

 desirable period. (Duncan on the Melon, p. 69.) The increase of the 

 red spider, and thrip, may be prevented, in a great degree, by a well- 

 ventilated atmosphere, and a due degree of care in syringing occasionally in 

 the afternoons ; but if these insects should become numerous, they may 

 be destroyed by syringing with water, to which one-fourth part of tobacco 

 water has been added. The wood-louse is a constant enemy to the melon, 

 and is most effectually kept under by keeping a toad or two in the frames. 

 If they should become exceedingly numerous, a flower-pot, laid on its side, 

 with some dry hay in it, renewing it when it becomes damp, is an excellent 

 trap. The canker is a frequent disease in the melon, generally occurring at 

 the point where the plants emerge from the soil. Mr. Duncan applies a 

 little air-slaked lime, as fresh as can be obtained, to the wounded part : it. 



does not cure the disease, for it is incurable, but it retards its progress. The 

 rotting of the stems from damp, want of light, or too free a use of the knife, 

 is nearly as fatal as the canker, and like it is incurable ; but where it takes 

 place at a distance from the root, an increase of heat, by adding linings, and 

 the free admission of air and light, will cause new shoots to be produced. 

 Mildew, our readers are aware, may always be checked by powdering with 

 flowers of sulphur. (Duncan, p. 73.) 



1047. The red spider and the damp, the one as bad as the other, in melon 

 frames, may be kept under by covering the surface with clean gravel, about 

 three-fourths of an inch deep. The roots find their way to the surface of 

 the mould, and form a matted texture under the gravel, where, being more 

 accessible to the warm air of the frame, by means of which a corresponding 

 temperature, as regards the roots and tops, is maintained, whilst the roots 

 are, at the same time, kept moist, the plants grow so vigorously as to 

 overcome every enemy. The practice is common in the neighbourhood of 

 Doncaster. (Gard. Mag., vol. iii., p. 218.) 



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